HORSHAM, Pa. and NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toll Brothers, Inc., (NYSE:TOL) (www.tollbrothers.com), the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, in a joint venture with GTIS Partners, a real estate private equity firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Los Angeles and São Paulo, today announced the acquisition of Sienna South, the last major undeveloped parcel of Sienna Plantation, one of Houston's most successful master planned communities.
Sienna South is a 3,700-acre site located in Houston's booming southwest corridor. Although fully zoned for up to 10,000 single-family homes, along with 140 acres of retail and commercial use and 63 acres of civic use, the Toll-GTIS joint venture expects to develop approximately 6,500 single-family home lots which will be sold to local, regional and national home builders over the anticipated life of the community. Toll Brothers may acquire up to 1,750 of those lots for its own home building operation over that time period. When fully built out, it is anticipated that Sienna South will have generated gross home sales of over $2.6 billion. The JV has entered into an agreement with The Johnson Development Corp., developer of Sienna Plantation and other prestigious Houston communities, to act as master developer.
Sienna South is the last major parcel of developable land within Sienna Plantation, an award-winning 7,000-acre master planned community. Begun in the 1990's by Johnson Development, the community is home to more than 20,000 residents. Sienna South's master plan includes over 1,100 acres of open space with an impressive array of parks, lakes, sports fields, pools, clubhouses and hiking trails.
The extension of the County-financed Fort Bend County Parkway, scheduled to be completed by early 2014, will connect Sienna Plantation directly to Houston's Inner Loop 610. Upon completion, a commute to downtown Houston will take 30 minutes. Sienna South will offer easy access to major retail and employment centers such as Sugar Land Town Square,a 1.4 million square foot, 32-acre office and shopping complex.
The community is only a 25-minute drive from the Texas Medical Center complex, the largest medical complex in the world. TheTexas Medical Center is an internationally recognized community of medical care, research and teaching, with an operating budget of $15 billion. Its 50+ member institutions handle over 7 million patient visits annually and employ approximately 106,000 people, including 5,000 physicians, 15,000 nurses, 5,700 researchers and 17,500 faculty, who educate 49,000 Life Sciences students and draw in over $3.4 billion in research funds annually.
Sienna South also offers easy access to the growing Houston Energy Corridor. Located along I-10, The Energy Corridor is defined by the many international energy companies that call it home, including BP America, Shell Oil, and ConocoPhillips.
Site improvements at Sienna South are slated to commence in April 2014, with sales of lots to builders projected to commence in late 2014. Sales to home buyers should begin in 2015.
Karl Mistry, Toll Brothers' Houston Division President, stated: "We are thrilled to be joining with GTIS and Johnson Development to bring Sienna South to the Houston market. With Houston's well-publicized shortage of available home sites in premier master planned communities, we believe the project's timing, Sienna Plantation's stellar reputation, our experienced management team, excellent location, amenities and highly rated schools will attract home builders and home buyers across the price point spectrum.
"Fort Bend County has the third-highest median household income of all counties in Texas and is among the top 30 nationwide. It offers a vast array of employment and recreational opportunities, making it one of the most desirable places in the U.S. in which to live.
"Toll Brothers entered Texas in 1994 and is five-time winner of the Texas Builder of the Year Award from the Texas Association of Builders. We are currently offering homes in 28 communities in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Beginning in 2014 we will be offering homes in two new communities in Austin as well. Sienna South continues our association with the highest-quality communities in one of the most exciting housing markets in the U.S.A."
Rob Vahradian, Senior Managing Director at GTIS, noted: "The Houston housing market has been one of the most dynamic and resilient housing markets in the country, fueled by strong fundamental employment and economic growth." Ed McDowell, Managing Director at GTIS, added: "Given that this is a continuation of the highly-successful Sienna Plantation master planned community and that we are partnering with one of the country's premier luxury homebuilders in Toll Brothers and one of the most experienced and respected land developers in Texas in Johnson Development, we are extremely enthusiastic about our investment in Sienna South."
Douglas Goff, Chief Operating Officer for The Johnson Development Corp. stated: "We are delighted to enter into this agreement for the development of Sienna South with such reputable organizations as Toll Brothers and GTIS Partners. This will be a continuation of our 16-year history of the successful development of Sienna Plantation, one of the nation's top-selling master-planned communities."
ABOUT TOLL BROTHERS
Toll Brothers, Inc., A FORTUNE 1000 Company is the nation's leading builder of luxury homes. The Company began business in 1967 and became a public company in 1986. Its common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TOL." The Company serves move-up, empty-nester, active-adult, and second-home buyers and operates in 19 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. The Company also operates in the District of Columbia. Toll Brothers builds an array of luxury residential single-family detached, attached home, master planned resort-style golf, and urban low-, mid- and high-rise communities, principally on land it develops and improves.
Toll Brothers entered the Dallas, Texas market in 1994 and has subsequently expanded its operations into Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Since entering the Texas market, Toll Brothers has delivered approximately 3,800 homes totaling approximately $2 billion in revenues. Locally, the Company is the proud five-time winner of the Texas Builder of the Year Award, from the Texas Association of Builders 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Currently Toll Brothers is offering homes in 15 communities in Dallas, 9 in Houston, 4 in San Antonio, and, beginning in 2014, will be offering homes in 2 communities in Austin.
ABOUT GTIS PARTNERS
GTIS Partners is a global real estate investment firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Los Angeles and São Paulo. GTIS Partners has 65 employees and currently manages approximately $2.4 billion of committed equity. To date, the firm has committed capital to residential, retail, industrial, office, hotel and mixed-use projects in the U.S. and Brazil. In the U.S., GTIS has invested in over 70 projects across 20 states, including 55 projects in the residential sector. In Brazil, GTIS has invested in 38 projects comprised of approximately 15,000 residential units developed or planned, and six million square-feet of office, industrial and hotel projects underway. For further information, please visit www.gtispartners.com.
ABOUT JOHNSON DEVELOPMENT CORP.
The Johnson Development Corp. is an award-winning residential and commercial land development company involved in premier projects including master-planned communities such as in various markets in Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1975, known for innovative master planning and, today, one of the largest and most successful land developers in both Houston and Atlanta, The Johnson Development Corp. has cultivated a strong reputation for vibrant, responsible development, with impeccably designed communities. For more information, visit www.johnsondevelopment.com
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT
Certain information included in this release is forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, information related to: anticipated operating results; anticipated financial performance, resources and condition; selling communities; home deliveries; average home prices; consumer demand and confidence; contract pricing; business and investment opportunities; market and industry trends; consummation of the proposed transaction with Shapell and the anticipated benefits to be realized therefrom; consummation of debt financing transactions; and post-closing asset sales.
Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect actual results and cause them to differ materially from expectations expressed herein and in other Company reports, SEC filings, statements and presentations. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: local, regional, national and international economic conditions; fluctuating consumer demand and confidence; interest and unemployment rates; changes in sales conditions, including home prices, in the markets where we build homes; conditions in our newly entered markets and newly acquired operations; the competitive environment in which we operate; the availability and cost of land for future growth; conditions that could result in inventory write-downs or write-downs associated with investments in unconsolidated entities; the ability to recover our deferred tax assets; the availability of capital; uncertainties in the capital and securities markets; liquidity in the credit markets; changes in tax laws and their interpretation; effects of governmental legislation and regulation; the outcome of various legal proceedings; the availability of adequate insurance at reasonable cost; the impact of construction defect, product liability and home warranty claims, including the adequacy of self-insurance accruals, and the applicability and sufficiency of our insurance coverage; the ability of customers to obtain financing for the purchase of homes; the ability of home buyers to sell their existing homes; the ability of the participants in various joint ventures to honor their commitments; the availability and cost of labor and building and construction materials; the cost of raw materials; construction delays; domestic and international political events; weather conditions; consummation of the proposed transaction with Shapell and the anticipated benefits to be realized therefrom; consummation of debt financing transactions; and post-closing asset sales. For a more detailed discussion of these factors, see the information under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Any or all of the forward-looking statements included in this release are not guarantees of future performance and may turn out to be inaccurate. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.